EVENTS
Date: July 29-30, 2017
Location: Elsewhere Farm, Herbster, WI
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Date: August 25, 2017, 6-8pm
Location: Michael Fields, East Troy, WI
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SUCCESS STORIES
As older farmers retire, fewer young farmers are stepping in to take their place. The number of beginning farmers dropped 20 percent in the last five-year census period, and the average US farmer now tops 58 years of age.
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CIAS supports innovative graduate student research addressing the challenges faced by small- and medium-sized farms and food businesses. Awarded annually, our competitive mini-grants aid students as they initiate their research in sustainable agriculture and food systems.
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DIRECTOR'S BLOG
Kat Becker and Tony Schultz, who own and operate Stoney Acres Farm in Marathon County, are featured in a
UW-Madison campaign to show how partnerships with citizens and businesses are furthering the
Wisconsin Idea in each of the state's 72 counties.
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Potential carbon sequestration and forage gains with management-intensive rotational grazing (Research Brief #95)
Do pastures under management-intensive rotational grazing (MIRG) differ from grasslands under other management in terms of forage quality and quantity, carbon sequestration and biological soil activity? Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison set out to answer these questions and discover some of the reasons behind differences in pasture productivity.
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Reducing Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico
Despite more than 40 years of largely voluntary efforts by federal, state, and local government, and tens of billions of US dollars of investment in conservation, nationwide progress on nutrient control has not yet been achieved.
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Productivity and Nitrogen Retention Tradeoffs in Bioenergy Grasslands (Research Brief #93)
Perennial grassland cropping systems may someday be managed as an alternative source of biofuel that requires fewer fertilizer inputs. This alternative biofuel can also reduce competition with food crops because land that is unsuitable for row crops may be used for perennial grasslands.
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Above- and below-ground grass growth responds to grazing management (Research Brief 91)
How is grass productivity above and below ground affected by grazing at different heights or by leaving different residuals after grazing? A study at UW-Madison found no simple answer to this question. Productivity of pasture grasses varies across grazing management strategies and species.
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Wisconsin Grazing Activities Resource List
The Wisconsin Grazing Activities Resource List (2013) contains information on current managed grazing and pasture-related organizations, contacts and research initiatives.
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Pastured Heifers Grow Well and Have Productive First Lactations
Dairy heifers that were raised on pasture in the ongoing Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems
Trial (WICST) performed as well as or better than similar heifers that were raised in confinement.
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Growing Wisconsin’s Grazing Future: Results of the Blue Sky Greener Pastures Consultation Process
For a wide variety of economic, environmental and social reasons, it makes good sense to regard the practice of managed grazing as an effective system for strengthening dairy and livestock farming in Wisconsin. The UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS) partnered with GrassWorks, Inc. to develop a statewide, participatory discussion about managed grazing that they called “Blue Sky Greener Pastures” (BSGP).
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Wisconsin Grazing Initiative 2012 Report
The Wisconsin Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative funded several innovative grazing-related projects from 2009 to 2011. The Wisconsin Grazing Initiative 2012 Report details the 21 educational projects, 23 technical assistance projects and 10 research projects that supported a variety of grazing-related work. The projects incorporate research-based information and rely on farmer-to-farmer learning. Public events and media […]
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